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Member Since Apr 2014
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Oct 09, 2024 at 11:07 AM
There is nothing wrong with these dog breeds, but the fact is, people frequently seek out a specific dog breed because they think it looks cool or cute or they see the dog performing a task at a high level and don't understand that looks are irrelevant to a dog's innate function and instincts. These dogs are bred for their instinct to do a certain kind of work and you cannot train that out of them.
Unfortunately, the prevalence of backyard breeders (unethical breeders who breed dogs who are not proven for the work they are bred or health tested, etc.) and puppy mills (same as BYB but on a commercial scale) has made so many breeds seen in movies available to the general public: huskies, shiba inu, belgian malinois, and so on. Shelters are now full with poorly bred versions of these dogs - meaning they look like the breed, but have inherent behavioral problems (often but not always) and considering they are often dumped as juveniles and adults, also have already learned bad habits.
I have a border collie puppy from an ethical breeder. This is not for the faint of heart. He is a terrorist. But that's exactly what I'd expect a border collie puppy that was bred for herding sheep and cattle to be. As we work on training and manners, he's calming down and fitting in, but the first 4 weeks were not that fun. I always say that I dislike the puppy phase, because when you are talking about working breeds, they are terrorists at a young age.
Andy, who is a mixed breed but not of any working breed, was so much easier as a puppy, and his mix is mostly companion dog breeds.
I'm winding around the point, but whether you go to a breeder or a rescue/shelter, they need to be more careful about matching breed to lifestyle. When I got my first border collie, I was running marathons, biking cross country, and super active. Astro fit my lifestyle perfectly. I'm not quite as active personally now, but I'm so involved with dog sports, the border collie still fits me. If I were to stop doing dog sports, I would probably go back to a golden retriever so I could have an active dog that would do things with me, but not need such an intense job to do to be fulfilled. Unfortunately it's pretty common these days for shelters and rescues and the above-mentioned unethical breeders to place these breeds with people who don't have a lifestyle match.
So...sorry for the rant. I feel like it's the equivalent of getting a 2 seater sports car when you have 3 small children that need to fit in car seats.
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Primary Dx: C-PTSD and Severe Chronic Treatment Resistant Major Depressive Disorder
Secondary Dx: Generalized Anxiety Disorder with mild Agoraphobia.
Meds I've tried: Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor, Remeron, Elavil, Wellbutrin, Risperidone, Abilify, Prazosin, Paxil, Trazadone, Tramadol, Topomax, Xanax, Propranolol, Valium, Visteril, Vraylar, Selinor, Clonopin, Ambien
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